| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Godfrey" |
| Date: |
08 Nov 2004 03:04:38 AM |
| Object: |
OT: Iran reaches nuke deal |
Coincidence? Or does this have something to do with Bush's
re-election?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6417121/
Iran says provisional nuclear deal reached
Pact with Britain, France and Germany still must be finalizedThe
Associated Press
Updated: 10:47 p.m. ET Nov. 7, 2004
TEHRAN, Iran - Hoping to avoid a U.N. showdown, Iran and the European
Union’s three big powers reached a preliminary agreement over Tehran’s
nuclear program, Iran’s chief negotiator said Sunday.
Meanwhile, lawmakers in Iran’s conservative-dominated parliament
pushed for a bill banning the production of nuclear weapons in a
gesture of building more international trust.
The preliminary agreement worked out in Paris with Britain, France and
Germany could be finalized in the next few days, chief Iranian
negotiator Hossein Mousavian told state-run Iranian television from
the French capital, where talks wrapped up Saturday.
If approved, the deal would be a major breakthrough after months of
threats and negotiations and could spare Iran from being taken before
the U.N. Security Council, where the United States has warned it would
seek to impose economic sanctions unless Tehran gives up all uranium
enrichment activities, a technology that can produce nuclear fuel or
atomic weapons.
The head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency,
Mohamed ElBaradei, called the agreement “a step in the right
direction.”
ElBaradei, speaking on the sidelines of an international conference on
nuclear security in Australia, said he hoped the deal would be
finalized in “the next few days” and would lead Iran to suspend its
nuclear enrichment and reprocessing programs.
Some outstanding issues
Diplomats in Austria familiar with the talks outcome declined to
discuss details. “One or two points remain outstanding, and they hope
to resolve those outstanding points by Wednesday,” one diplomat in
Austria told The Associated Press.
In proposals to Iran last month, Britain, Germany and France offered a
trade deal and peaceful nuclear technology — including a light-water
research reactor — if Iran pledged to indefinitely suspend uranium
enrichment and related activities such as reprocessing uranium and
building centrifuges used to enrich it.
Europe and Washington fear Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons,
but Tehran denies such claims, saying its atomic program has peaceful
aims, including energy production.
“We had 22 hours of negotiations ... They were very difficult and
complicated negotiations but we reached a preliminary agreement at the
expert level,” Mousavian said. He said the four countries must now ask
their governments to approve the accord.
The preliminary agreement appeared to mark a dramatic breakthrough,
since Iranian officials have resisted indefinite or long-term
suspension of nuclear enrichment, a process that Iran is permitted to
pursue under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which Tehran has
signed.
While not being in breach of the treaty, Iran is under heavy
international pressure to drop such plans as a good faith gesture.
“If this is approved by all four parties, we will witness an important
change in Iran’s relations with Europe and much of the international
community in (the) not-too-distant future,” Mousavian said without
elaborating on the agreement.
The Europeans had warned Iran that they will back Washington’s threat
to refer the Islamic republic to the U.N. Security Council for
possible sanctions unless it gives up all uranium enrichment
activities before a Nov. 25 meeting of the U.N. nuclear watchdog in
Vienna.
Tehran suspended uranium enrichment last year but has refused to stop
other related activities such as reprocessing uranium or building
centrifuges, insisting its program is intended purely for the
production of fuel for nuclear power generation.
Meanwhile, lawmakers “are collecting support for a draft bill banning
the production of nuclear weapons,” legislator Mohmoud Mohammadi told
the AP.
Mohammadi, a former Foreign Ministry spokesman, said the bill could be
presented to the parliament next week, adding that the draft was
prompted by a religious verdict by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei.
Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters, has said that
production, stockpiling and using nuclear weapons was un-Islamic and
against human interests.
“Ayatollah Khamenei’s verdict is clear,” Mohammadi said. “So why not
make the production of nuclear weapons illegal under Iranian law?”
-Godfrey
* * * * *
The truth is a precious commodity. That's why I use it so sparingly.
- Mark Twain
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| User: "Rune Børsjø" |
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| Title: Re: OT: Iran reaches nuke deal |
08 Nov 2004 12:26:22 PM |
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On Mon, 08 Nov 2004 09:04:38 GMT, Godfrey <No@Email.Provided> wrote:
If approved, the deal would be a major breakthrough after months of
threats and negotiations and could spare Iran from being taken before
the U.N. Security Council, where the United States has warned it would
seek to impose economic sanctions unless Tehran gives up all uranium
enrichment activities, a technology that can produce nuclear fuel or
atomic weapons.
This is the best news all year. Let's hope they actually stick to the
deal. International inspectors are a must. Now someone needs to
convince North Korea of the same thing and the world will fast be on
the way to being a better place.
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